I'm currently trying to place body copy text inside all that is teal. I have outlined the graphic, and released the compound paths. I have gotten as far sa clicking the edge of the circle and then being able to type within the circle. But how do I make it so the "CH" and "College Hill" are essentially cut into the circle so the text must go around them as well?

the first image on the left is what we were explaining, the two images on the right is another guess of mine. The images on the right were simply created with the Area Type Tool by clicking in each path and pasting. The paths must be simple and not compound. Letters with wholes like the g at the bottom is two simple paths (not compound) first you fill the outer path with text and use the inner path to wrap around as suggested in the first guess from Jacob and me.

If these are still not what you are looking for, draw a sketch of what you are trying to achieve.